Islamabad, September 13, 2026: President Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) Sardar Tahir Mehmood has said Pakistan needs to transform its development ambitions into investments and investments into measurable, high-impact projects to achieve sustainable economic growth.
Addressing an interactive session on “UNDP SDGs Investment Projects” at Chamber House on Friday, he said Pakistan had enormous potential, including a vibrant and young population, but this potential needed to be connected with capital, technology, expertise and credible investment opportunities.
Sardar Tahir Mehmood emphasized that sustainable prosperity could not be achieved by the public sector alone. He said the government provides an enabling environment, development institutions offer knowledge and frameworks, while the private sector contributes capital, innovation, efficiency and scale.
He stressed that public-private partnerships should therefore be viewed as a mechanism for national transformation. Welcoming representatives of UNDP and Nutshell, he said Pakistan needed “investable ideas moving into implementation” rather than more projects remaining on paper.
Air Chief Marshal (Retd.) Sohail Aman, Chief Executive Strategic Engagements, Nutshell, said the business community was struggling to sustain economic activity amid high energy costs, taxation and other structural challenges.
He said human resources and human capital development must remain at the heart of Pakistan’s economic strategy. The initiative, he added, aimed to bridge the gap between the government, development institutions and the private sector by identifying viable investment projects.
Sohail Aman said chambers of commerce were a vital link between the public and private sectors as they understood the problems, potential and investment appetite of businesses. He urged the business community to provide feedback on the proposed projects and help identify domestic and international investors interested in opportunities offering both commercial returns and development and climate impact.
He said the initiative was not intended to be a one-off event but aimed to establish a continuing pipeline through which SDG-oriented public-private partnership projects could be developed, refined and presented to investors.
Ms. Naghma-e-Tehniat, Head of Development Policy Unit, UNDP Pakistan, said UNDP had been working since 2020 to take Pakistani projects to international investment platforms and promote Pakistan as an investment destination.
She said UNDP, in collaboration with Nutshell, was identifying and showcasing projects internationally while creating greater awareness that impact investment was both possible and commercially viable in Pakistan. She urged Pakistani investors and the business community to provide feedback so the projects could be further refined in line with market realities and investor requirements.
In his presentation, Sajeed Aslam, Project Lead Consultant, Nutshell, said the organization was working with UNDP Pakistan on the National SDGs Investment Project to evaluate and promote public-private partnership projects for potential investors.
He said the shortlisted portfolio had been assessed on the basis of developmental impact, bankability and commercial viability and comprised more than 40 federal and provincial projects across 11 sectors, including transport and mobility, health and social development, agriculture and food, water and sanitation, energy and climate, industry and trade, urban and real estate, tourism and heritage, technology, education and skills, and waste management.
Ms. Shahbano Khan, SDGs Specialist, Development Policy Unit, UNDP, also highlighted the core objectives and investment potential of the initiative.
In his vote of thanks, ICCI Executive Member Zulqurnain Abbasi expressed confidence that the session would help the business community better understand emerging investment opportunities and develop stronger linkages with development institutions and project stakeholders.
He appreciated UNDP and Nutshell for bringing investment-ready SDG projects before the business community and said effective collaboration among the government, development partners and private sector could convert Pakistan’s vast potential into sustainable economic opportunities, employment and inclusive national development.
ICCI Executive Member Waseem Chadhry moderated the session. Former Senior Vice President Khalid Chaudhry, ICCI senior members Akhtar Abbasi and Sajid Iqbal, Ms. Fareena Mazhar and Nahyan Mirza from Nutshell, among others, also attended the session.
